Abbatia
Sancti Petri
de Curte

The Sayings of the Elders (Verba seniorum, Book VII)

That sickness of the body profits the soul

Quod infirmitas corporis prosit animæ.

This book is not translated in the edition used; the Latin is given alone.

1

Magnus quidam senex infirmanti discipulo suo dixit: Ne contristeris, fili, ex infirmitate vel plaga corporis tui. Summa enim religio est ut in infirmitate quis gratias agat Deo. Si ferrum es, per ignem amittis æruginem; si vero aurum es, per ignem probatus, a magnis ad majora procedis. Ne anxieris ergo, frater; si enim te Deus vult in corpore torqueri, tu quis es qui ejus voluntati resistas aut moleste feras? Sustine ergo, et roga Deum, ut quæ ipse vult, illa concedat.

2

Quidam senex cum frequenter infirmaretur corpore et langueret, contigit ut uno anno nulla eum ægritudo contingeret; et propterea flebat et graviter ferebat, dicens: Reliquisti me, Domine, et noluisti me præsenti hoc anno visitare.

Latin text: Verba seniorum, Book VII of the Vitae Patrum, translated from the Greek by Paschasius of Dumium for Abbot Martin (Martin of Braga), in H. Rosweyde’s edition as reprinted in Migne’s Patrologia Latina, vol. 73 (1879 reprint), cols. 1025–1062, checked against the scans; without the editor’s notes and cross-references, and without the Greek text of chapter XLIV printed in the notes. Public-domain text in France (art. L123-1 of the French Intellectual Property Code). Transcription and revision: Abbatia Sancti Petri de Curte. Report an error